Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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17 Quarter note—1 count of sound
Counting: 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 (one, or two, or three
or four)
20 Te (pronounced TAY)—the syllable for the second half of a count, or the off beat
21 Dotted quarter note—1 ½ counts of sound
Counting: 1 -, or 3 – (wuh-un, or three-ee)
3. Staff Symbols
26 Staff—the five lines and four spaces on which
music is written. The lines and spaces are
numbered from the bottom to the top.
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30 Repeat—two dots placed before a double bar
line, which mean to go back without stopping to
the beginning or to an interior repeat and play
again
31 Clef—a symbol placed at the beginning of the staff to indicate the pitch of the notes on the
staff.
32 Treble clef—the clef sign used for the staff on
which notes for higher sounding pitches are
written, also called G clef because it circles the
G line
Quarter note gets one beat Eighth note gets one beat
Quarter note gets one beat Half note gets one beat
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5. Pitch, Musical Alphabet, Line and Space Names
38 Pitch—the highness or lowness of musical sound. Pitch is notated by the placement of the note
head on the lines and spaces of the staff. Notes on the lower lines and spaces of the staff
sound lower in pitch than notes on the higher lines and spaces.
39 Musical alphabet—the first 7 letters of the alphabet (ABCDEFG) which are given to the lines
and spaces of the music staff on which notes are written. Also used as the letter names of
notes.
40 Treble Clef line note names—from the bottom to
the top are E G B D F. Memory sentence:
Every Good Boy Does Fine
6. Articulation
44 Accent—a symbol placed above or below the
note head which means to play the note with
more emphasis or stress
45 Tie—a curved line connecting 2 or more notes
of the same pitch. The note values are added
together and the notes are played as one note.
In band, only the first note under a tie is
tongued.
7. Accidentals
46 Accidentals—music symbols which alter the pitch of a note. They include flat, sharp, and
natural.
47 Flat—a symbol that lowers the pitch of a note
by one half step. The flat sign is placed to the
left of a note and to the right of the letter
name.
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8. Key Signatures
50 Key signature—sharps or flats placed at the beginning of a composition or line to tell which
notes to play with sharps or flats throughout the music and to show the scale on which the
music is based.
51 Key of C—no flats or sharps
52 Flat key names—memorize Key of F (one flat—Bb) All other flat keys: find the next to last flat
from the right.
Bb Eb Ab
53 Sharp key names—find the last sharp and go up one letter name
F# G C# D G# A D# E
9. Playing Direction
54 First and second endings—play through the first
nd
ending and repeat; second time through skip 2 time
st
1 time
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Italian phrase meaning to the head
10. Dynamics
58 Dynamics—terms and symbols which tell how loud or soft to play
59 Pianissimo—very soft volume
60 Piano—soft volume
63 Forte—loud volume
11. Tempo
68 Fermata—a symbol which means to hold a note
or rest longer than its time value
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13. Melody and Harmony
86 Melody—a succession or pattern of notes forming a musical line; considered the most
important part
87 Harmony—two or more pitches played or sung together which result in a pleasant musical
sound
88 Chord—three or more different tones or pitches played or sung at the same time
89 Accompaniment—music that goes along with a more important part; often harmony or
rhythmic patterns accompanying a melody.
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117 Classroom Instruments—instruments used in the general music classroom: recorders,
autoharp, mallet instruments, simple percussion, keyboard and electronic instruments
18. Composition
125 Composer—a person who writes music
126 Composition—the completed arrangement of music
127 Ballad—a song which tells a narrative or story
128 Chorus—the repetitive part of a song that occurs between verses
129 Call and response—a song style that follows a question and answer pattern where a soloist
leads and a group responds
130 Movement—the divisions or sections of a musical composition
131 Round—a song imitated at the same pitch by a second (or third) group of singers who begin at
a designated time during the song (Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
132 Score—a notation showing all the parts of a musical composition
133 Two-part songs—songs written for performance by two distinct voices
134 Genre—a category of musical composition, such as symphony, opera, string quartet, cantata,
concerto, etc.
135 Polyphony—poly—many, phony—sounds. Two or more melodic sounds sounding at the same
time
136 Counterpoint--melodic lines imitated at a different intervals at designated times in a piece of
music. Like a complex round.
137 Homophonic—a melody with chords for accompaniment
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141 Romantic (1820-1900)—Music became more exciting through the use of many dynamics (see
#58), new and different chords (see #88), and more use of dissonance (see #123) that didn’t
always resolve to consonance (see #124). Program music (music that tries to tell a story or
bring out an emotion) was at its highest level of popularity. Major Composers: Johannes
Brahms, Richard Wagner, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
142 Impressionism (1880-1918)—a style of music mostly from France. Composers experimented
with new sounds and effects for instruments and voices, and new combinations of scales and
rhythms. This music was similar to the artwork of the time in its “feeling” of lightness and
exoticism (excitingly different or strange). Major Composers: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel
143 Contemporary (1900-present)—There are many different trends and styles of music all
happening at the same time. These include American Jazz/Blues, music for television, film,
and Broadway, and popular music. Major Composers: Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Duke
Ellington
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149 African American Music—based on musical traditions, including call and response and
polyrhythm, brought by the Africans into slavery. This rich cultural tradition has developed into
many of the important musical styles of today, including spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz, swing,
be-bop, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, funk, rap and hip-hop.
150 Hispanic Music—standard major and minor scales with syncopated Latin rhythms. Instruments
used in Mariachi bands include: guitars, violins, trumpets, and Latin percussion.
151 Asian Music—a combination of oriental and pentatonic scales using instruments of ancient
origin, such as chimes, drums, and koto.
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